Study Shows Young People Are Having More Kinds of Sex

A new study published by the Journal of Adolescent Health shows that young adults, particularly heterosexual teens, are much more comfortable with sexual experimentation than they were 20 years ago. While this might not seem surprising as attitudes towards sex and sexuality shift, it's vitally important to know. As more and more young people begin to explore their sexuality, it's imperative that they have the education and resources to do so safely. In that area, we're still lagging behind where we were even 10 years ago.

Researchers analyzed over 45,000 interviews of British residents between 16 to 24 years old, from three surveys conducted every decade since the 1930s, who were surveyed within the past 22 years. Questions included information about personal sexual experiences, attitudes toward specific sex acts, and overall sexual behavior.

The study shows that the amount of heterosexual people who have had vaginal, oral, and anal sex nearly doubled between 1990 and 2012. The most recently released study shows that between 2010 and 2012, one in five women and one in four men participated in all three forms of intercourse within the past year. The largest increase in sexual activity was found among older teens aged 16 to 19. The authors also wrote that findings confirm that oral and anal sex are joining “rather than replacing” vaginal intercourse.

Ultimately, the results show that young people today are much more open to trying new sex acts and forms of intercourse once thought of as totally taboo. Harvard University recently hosted an anal sex 101 workshop, hoping to change the stigma surrounding the sex act and keep those who are having sex as safe and educated as possible. Sex ed hasn’t been limited to the classroom either — recently, the #MyFirstTime hashtag took over the Internet and gave people a space to openly discuss the first time they had sexual intercourse.

Of course, while it’s true that all kinds of resources for sex ed have popped up in recent years, including Gynopedia, that doesn’t necessarily mean that all young people are getting the tools they need. Other recent studies published by the Journal, like this one conducted by the Center for Innovative Public Health Research (CiPHR) found that LGBTQ girls are not receiving proper sex ed. The results detailed that young members of the LGBTQ community feel that the focus on heterosexual sex is uncomfortable.

Michele Ybarra, a principal investigator in the study, also explained that lack of information around sexual intercourse between people with vaginas was contributing to incorrect understandings of STIs. “They need to know that there are sexy ways to use barriers, that they can make dental dams out of condoms if needed, and that they can get STIs having sex with other girls,” she says.

In fact, comprehensive sex ed that includes the LGBTQ community is so heavily stigmatized and lacking that just last year in California, a school district was prevented from creating a program that would have abided by new state laws and catered to the LGBTQ community. Broadly reported that so many parents protested the inclusion of definitions of basic sex acts and the sex ed curriculum itself that that school district failed to pass the programming for middle school students.

Instances like this tell us that sexual education still has a long way to go until it can be considered truly comprehensive. With this latest study confirming that sex acts besides vaginal intercourse are on the rise, it is all the more reason to give young people and teens the inclusive sex ed they deserve — sexual education that explains enough for people of any and all genders and orientations to be practicing safe, informed, and consensual sex.